Wikitroid:IRC/Operators
This page is intended for Wikitroid's IRC channel operators If you aren't a channel operator for Wikitroid's IRC channel, it is perfectly safe to ignore the contents of this page. Although you may find the information on this page interesting, and although it is by no means "secret", the information on this page is intended for IRC channel operators. If you aren't one, the information here won't be of use to you, at least not on Wikitroid's IRC channel. In addition, this page is aimed at users who are already familiar with the workings of IRC. If you're new to IRC, you probably don't want to start with this page, and it's recommended that you go back to Wikitroid:IRC to learn more about the basics of IRC chat. Who Are Operators? Operators are Wikitroid administrators who regularly use IRC and have requested operator access. Only Wikitroid administrators may become IRC channel operators. Operators are charged with enforcing the channel rules as well as generally keeping order in the channel. If you are a Wikitroid administrator, and you don't want operator access for whatever reason, fear not: It is not mandatory for Wikitroid administrators to be operators, just recommended. You can still be marked as an admin (i.e., you can have voice) without also having operator privileges. What Operators Can Do Operator Commands To facilitate enforcing of the channel rules, operators have access to several commands that regular users don't have access to. It is highly recommended that all operators use an IRC client, not the Freenode Webchat. ;/msg ChanServ QUIET #wikia-metroid nickname :Note that you don't have to be opped to run this command. Quiets the user nickname from speaking in the channel. They will be allowed to join the channel and see others talk, but they won't be allowed to talk themselves. Please announce to the channel when you set a quiet, otherwise other users (and operators) won't know who set it. Note that it is preferred that you use the '/mode +q''' command (see below) to this command if you know how to use the /mode +q command.'' ;/msg ChanServ UNQUIET #wikia-metroid nickname :Note that you don't have to be opped to run this command. Removes all quiets against the user nickname. Note that nickname must be online on IRC for this to work, otherwise the quiet must be removed manually (see the /mode -q command below). Note that it is preferred that you use the '/mode -q''' command (see below) to this command if you know how to use the /mode -q command.'' ;/msg ChanServ FLAGS #wikia-metroid nickname flags :This command can only be executed by bureaucrats, with one exception. :This command allows you to manipulate the channel access list. It is used by bureaucrats to grant ops/voice to newly promoted admins, or to remove ops/voice from demoted admins or as part of disciplinary action. Only bureaucrats may use this command, unless you are completely and irrevocably resigning your own access to the channel. To resign your access, run the command /msg ChanServ FLAGS #wikia-metroid yourNickname -*. This will remove all your privileges in the channel. Note that all flags changes are announced to the channel by ChanServ. See below for information on what the flags do and, if you're a bureaucrat, what flags you should give who. ;/msg ChanServ OP #wikia-metroid :This command, when executed, asks ChanServ to grant you the op flag (+o), which allows you to execute the commands listed below. You must be identified to NickServ to do this (see here). And, of course, you must have already been gratned operator permissions in the channel. The state of having the op flag, as granted by this command, is called "being opped". Opped users are indicated by a @ preceding their nickname in the list of users on the channel. :All commands listed below require you to be opped to run them. ;/mode +q nickmask :This command sets a quiet against the user(s) matching nickmask. This takes a little explanation, see the section about nickmasks below. It is highly recommended that you use this command over /msg ChanServ QUIET. If you run this command without specifying nickmask, you will see a list of everyone who is currently quieted (ops not required to do this). ;/mode -q nickmask :This command removes a quiet against the user(s) matching nickmask (see the section about nickmasks below). ;/kick nickname :The kick command forcibly removes the user nickname from the channel. Make sure you run this command in the channel you want to kick the user from. Note that nothing stops the user from rejoining the channel after they are kicked - unless you also ban them. ;/ban nickname :This command asks your client to automatically set a ban against the user nickname. A ban will prevent the user from joining the channel or from talking in it. Bans are usually followed by a kick to prevent the user from returning to the channel. Some clients even provide a /kickban command that does a /ban followed by a /kick. ;/unban nickname :If your client supports this command, it will attempt to remove all bans affecting the user nickname. Note that nickname must be on IRC for this command to work. If this command doesn't work, you must manually unset the ban using the /mode -b command (see below). ;/mode +b nickmask :This command manually sets a ban against the user(s) matching nickmask (see the section about nickmasks below). Running this command without specifying nickmask will list all the current bans (you don't need ops to do this). ;/mode -b nickmask :This command manually unbans user(s) affected by the nickmask. Generally, the /unban command in your client won't work properly, so you'll have to use this command to manually unban. ;/op nickname :Grants the operator flag to another person on the channel. Note that the channel is set as SECURE, meaning that if you try to use this command to op someone who isn't normally allowed to have ops, ChanServ will automatically deop them. ;/voice nickname :Grants the voice flag (+v, appearing in the nickname list simply as a + preceding nicknames in the users list). All Wikitroid admin have this flag granted to them automatically when they join the channel (if they're identified to NickServ). ;/devoice nickname :Removes the voice flag from the specified user. ;/deop nickname :Removes operator privileges from (deops) the specified user. Use this command on yourself when you're done executing operator commands to deop yourself. You will automatically return to being voiced (unless you've manually removed the voice flag from yourself using the /devoice command for whatever reason). ChanServ cannot be deopped. If you're an operator, you can always re-op yourself using the /msg ChanServ OP #wikia-metroid command as necessary. Nickmasks A nickmask is a way of specifying who to ban. It is more complex, but by extension more powerful, than just specifying a nickname. Some commands, such as /ban, will cause your client to automatically figure out what nickmask to use (since bans are always set by nickmask). A nickmask is in this format: nickname!username@''hostname'' *''Nickname'' is the user's nickname. *''Username'' is not the user's Wikitroid username. The username does not mean much of anything, actually, and it's usually set by the chatter in their client (there is one exception where the username does mean something; see below). *''Hostname'' is one of three things: *#The user's IP address, either in raw IP address form, or in the form of a DNS address, aka host form (more on this below) *#The user's cloak (e.g., wikipedia/pdpc.active.FastLizard4 or unaffiliated/lumberjack) *#A gateway cloak (e.g., gateway/web/freenode/ip.1.2.3.4 or gateway/web/mibbit/x9362983720 - always starts with "gateway/") Getting a user's nickmask To get a user's nickmask (as well as other information, such as whether or not they've identified to services), run the /whois command on them: /whois ''nickname. This results in something like this: -!- LizardBot fastlizard@wikipedia/FastLizard4/bot/LizardBot-1 -!- ircname : PHP-LizardBot v7.2.0.0b -!- channels : #Wikia-Metroid -!- server : asimov.freenode.net USA -!- account : LizardBot The important information is all in the first line, which is (in this case) in the format Nickname Username@Hostname. The exact way it's displayed may differ from client-to-client, but the general form will be the same. Some more explanation about the types of hostname, and how to ban them: User's IP or host A user's IP address might appear in the hostname in several forms. It could appear as a raw IP address (say, 96.126.96.9, 76.167.172.54, or 2600:3c01::f03c:91ff:fe93:12d8 - this is an IPv6 address). But, more likely than not, the '''reverse DNS hostname' will be shown instead. In other words, this is the address that points to the IP of the user. For the three examples given, the rDNS hostnames would be ridley.fastlizard4.org, cpe-76-167-172-54.socal.res.rr.com, and (again) ridley.fastlizard4.org. Banning the rDNS hostname is just as good as banning the IP, and is preferred when possible. And as shown here, sometimes the IP address appears directly in the hostname. Your client's /ban command should handle these readily. However, if you're quieting using /mode +q ''nickmask, or if you want to manually using '/mode +b nickmask, use a mask like this *!*@''hostname or IP address''. User cloak A user cloak is set by request to replace the IP address or hostname of identified chatters. User cloaks are of the form project/''username'', project/''position''/''username'', unaffiliated/''username'', or sometimes project/''some.other.project''.username. Examples of these include wikia/Armantula513, freenode/staff/AfterDeath, unaffiliated/ikonia, and wikipedia/pdpc.active.FastLizard4. Bots sometimes have cloaks, though generally spambots won't. An example of a bot cloak is wikipedia/FastLizard4/bot/LizardBot-1. Banning a user cloak will prevent that NickServ user from entering the channel, though nothing will stop them if they don't identify and just use their IP or host. To ban (using '''/mode +b ''nickmask) or quiet (using '/mode +q nickmask), use a mask like this: *!*@''cloak''. If you're banning someone with a user cloak, however, your client's '''/ban command should work just fine. Gateway cloak A gateway cloak is in the form gateway/''serviceName''/''sessionNumber'' or gateway/''serviceName''/ip.ipAddress. If you see a gateway cloak, this is one of the few times banning by username is useful. The username is a hex encoding of the user's IP address, so to ban a problem gateway user with this WHOIS info: sirtrollalot a8bb2af2@gateway/web/freenode/ip.168.187.42.242, ban this nickmask: *!a8bb2af2@gateway/* - in other words, the general form should be *!username@gateway/*. Note that you'll have to manually specify this nickmask using the /mode +b ''nickmask'' command (and, of course, also when using the /mode +q ''nickmask'' command). Rules for Operators These rules are applied to operators, in addition to the standard channel rules. #As noted above, it is highly recommended that you use /mode +q ''nickmask'' instead of /msg ChanServ QUIET #wikia-metroid ''nickname'' and /mode -q ''nickmask'' instead of /msg ChanServ UNQUIET #wikia-metroid ''nickname. However, if you must use '/msg ChanServ QUIET''' and /msg ChanServ UNQUIET, make sure that you announce that you are the person issuing the command in the channel. Failure to do so may result in your operator privileges being revoked. #Never use the commands /msg ChanServ BAN and /msg ChanServ UNBAN, the exception to the latter being only if you're unbanning yourself, even if you're announcing in the channel that you're using the commands. This is for transparency reasons. #Kicking other users as a joke is acceptable, as long as the other user is aware that you're joking, and as long as the other user is not away and able to immediately rejoin the channel after the kick. Joke banning or quieting (except of yourself) is never acceptable. #Don't op yourself for longer than you need to. Op yourself to ban the troll, kick someone, or to do what you want to do, but once you're done, please deop yourself using the command /deop ''yourNickname. #Bureaucrats may remove ops from admins if they are busing their op privileges. But as long as someone is an admin on Wikitroid, they must be allowed to retain the standard voice flags (see below). #Any admin who gets banned from the channel must have the +v, +i, +r, and +t privilege flags removed from them for the duration of their ban. This prevents them from unbanning themselves from the channel, changing the channel's topic, inviting themselves to the channel, or granting voice to other users. These flags should be returned to them once their ban term expires. #Kicking any of the bots is not allowed without talking to the bot's operator. If a bot is being abused, quiet the abuser. If a bot is malfunctioning, quiet the bot. Don't ban it or kick it. #Bureaucrats must set flags in the patterns specified below, unless there's a reason to deviate. Failure results in being yelled at by FastLizard4. #See below for the policy on self-unbans. Unbanning Yourself All admins, whether you've elected to have operator permissions or not (i.e., even if you just have voice), can unban themselves from #wikia-metroid should they somehow become banned. To do this, simply execute this command (after you've identified to NickServ, of course): /msg ChanServ UNBAN #wikia-metroid This will automatically remove ''all bans matching you in the channel, including rangebans. Note that if you are an admin who has been deliberately banned from the channel for disciplinary action or otherwise, you are trusted - like you are on the wiki - to not unban yourself from the channel until your ban expires, although generally, the permission that allows you to unban yourself will be removed for the duration of the ban. eir ''Note: eir is currently not working in #wikia-metroid. Disregard this section... for now.'' eir is a system for managing and commenting bans set on a person. When an op bans someone, the bot will ask said operator to comment on the ban. You simply need to reply with the command /msg eir , where is the time until eir should remove the ban, which takes this format: Time: Time should be given in the following format: ~1h THE ~ IS IMPORTANT. For 1 hour from now. ~4h1m4s For 4 hours, 1 minute and 4 seconds from now. d -> day h -> hour m -> minute s -> second is simple, just type in the reason you banned the user. Note: There is no default reason, however, the default expiry time is 30 minutes. When the ban expires, eir will op itself and remove the ban. However, if it does not deop itself following the removal of the ban, please deop it if it remains inactive for a period of time after opping itself. In addition, make sure the bot does NOT have voice, if the bot has voice, please de-voice it. This does not affect the operation of the bot. Of course, netsplits and other things may cause eir to die every so often, just so you know. Flags This section describes the various access flags and what can be done with them. +v - Enables use of the voice/devoice commands. +V - Enables automatic voice. +o - Enables use of the op/deop commands. +O - Enables automatic op. +s - Enables use of the set command. +i - Enables use of the invite and getkey commands. +r - Enables use of the kick, ban, and kickban commands. +R - Enables use of the recover and clear commands. +f - Enables modification of channel access lists. +t - Enables use of the topic and topicappend commands. +A - Enables viewing of channel access lists. +F - Grants full founder access. +b - Enables automatic kickban. If you are not a founder, you may only manipulate flags you have yourself, and may not edit users that have flags you don't have. For this purpose, +v grants +V, +o grants +O and +r grants +b. A more complete list of flags, what they mean, who can set them, and that sort of thing, run this command: /msg ChanServ HELP FLAGS Flags Users Should Have Following are the flags various users should have, with respect to their privileges on Wikitroid. #wikia-metroid *Banned from Wikitroid: none *Regular editor: none *Administrator who does not want operator privileges in the channel: +vVirtA *Administrator who does want operator privileges: +vVoirtA *Bureaucrat: +vVoirftA *Admin or bureaucrat banned from the channel: -*+VA Note that bureaucrats must have ops whether or not they want it as they must be able to grant and revoke ops as necessary. #wikia-metroid-admins *Banned from Wikitroid: none *Regular editor: none *Administrator: +Aiort *Bureaucrat: +AVfiortv *Admin or bureaucrat banned from the channel: -* Autokick Users Users listed below have been listed in ChanServ as having access level +b, which means that they will be automatically kickbanned from the channel if they are seen. Operators: Note that this list doubles as a kickban-on-sight list, should you see any of the users below on the channel and the aren't handled by ChanServ. *''Currently, no one is on the list.''